Synthesis of a Novel Chitosan/Basil Oil Blend and Development of Novel Low Density Poly Ethylene/Chitosan/Basil Oil Active Packaging Films Following a Melt-Extrusion Process for Enhancing Chicken Breast Fillets Shelf-Life

An innovative process for the adsorption of the hydrophobic Basil-Oil (BO) into the hydrophilic food byproduct chitosan (CS) and the development of an advanced low-density polyethylene/chitosan/basil-oil (LDPE/CS_BO) active packaging film was investigated in this work. The idea of this study was the use of the BO as both a bioactive agent and a compatibilizer. The CS was modified to a CS_BO hydrophobic blend via a green evaporation/adsorption process. This blend was incorporated directly in the LDPE to produce films with advanced properties. All the obtained composite films exhibited improved packaging properties. The film with 10% CS_BO content exhibited the best packaging properties, i.e., 33.0% higher tensile stress, 31.0% higher water barrier, 54.3% higher oxygen barrier, and 12.3% higher antioxidant activity values compared to the corresponding values of the LDPE films. The lipid oxidation values of chicken breast fillets which were packaged under vacuum using this film were measured after seven and after fourteen days of storage. These values were found to be lower by around 41% and 45%, respectively, compared with the corresponding lipid oxidation values of pure LDPE film.     

Design rule of indium bump in infrared focal plane array for longer cycling life

In light of the proposed equivalent method, a three-dimensional structural modeling of InSb infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs) is created, and the simulated strain distribution is identical to the deformation distribution on the top surface of InSb IRFPAs. After comparing the deformation features at different regions with the structural characteristics of IRFPAs, we infer that the flatness of InSb IRFPAs will be improved with a thinner indium bump array, and this inference is verified by subsequent simulation results. That is, when the diameter of indium bump is smaller than 20 μm, the simulated Z-components of strain on the whole top surface of InSb IRFPAs is uniform, and the deformation amplitude is small. When the diameter of indium bump is larger than 28 μm, the simulated Z-components of strain increases rapidly with the thicker indium bump, and the flatness of InSb IRFPAs is worsened rapidly. According to the changing trend of deformation amplitude with diameters of indium bump, and employing element pitches normalization method, a design rule of indium bump is proposed. That is, when the diameter of indium bump is shorter than 0.4 times the element pitch, the flatness of InSb IRFPAs is in an acceptable range. This design rule was supported by different IRFPAs with different formats delivered by several main research groups for achieving a longer cycling life.     

Prebiotic Nucleoside Synthesis: The Selectivity of Simplicity

Ever since the discovery of nucleic acids 150 years ago,^[1] major achievements have been made in understanding and decrypting the fascinating scientific questions of the genetic code.^[2] However, the most fundamental question about the origin and the evolution of the genetic code remains a mystery. How did nature manage to build up such intriguingly complex molecules able to encode structure and function from simple building blocks? What conditions were required? How could the precursors survive the unhostile environment of early Earth? Over the past decades, promising synthetic concepts were proposed providing clarity in the field of prebiotic nucleic acid research. In this Minireview, we show the current status and various approaches to answer these fascinating questions.     

自支撑硫镍基电极材料制备及其赝电容性能

硫镍基赝电容超级电容器具有较高的比电容和功率密度等优点,是下一代理想的储能装置之一,但其实际应用受到其活性材料的制约,如导电性低和循环性能差等。研究者围绕增强硫镍基赝电容电极材料导电性和提升循环稳定性进行了大量的研究工作。其中,构建自支撑的电极材料被认为是一种降低活性材料和集流体之间界面电阻的有效方法。本文综述了制备自支撑硫镍基赝电容电极的常见方法,并就活性材料的形貌与性能关系进行了总结,主要着眼于集流体改性、离子掺杂、复合材料构建及形貌调控优化等。最后对自支撑硫镍基赝电容电极材料的研究方向进行了展望。     

Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures—Implications to the Origin of Life

The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to impact induced shock heating and subsequent cooling. This discovery suggests that the building blocks of life could have self-assembled not just on Earth but on other planetary bodies as a result of impact events. Our study also provides further experimental evidence for the ‘threads’ observed in meteorites being due to assemblages of (bio)molecules arising from impact-induced shocks.     

Beddington-DeAngelis型捕食-食饵动力系统的正平衡点及其稳定性

A class of Beddington-DeAngelis' type predator-prey dynamic system with prey and predator both having linear density restriction is considered. By using the qualitative methods of ODE, the existence and uniqueness of positive equilibrium and its global asymptotic stability are analyzed. The direct criterions for local stability of positive equilibrium and existence of limit cycle are also established when inference parameter of predator is small.     

关于吸收式碳捕集热力学机制的探索

热再生吸收式碳捕集的传统认识难以揭示其热力学机制,一种新的认识是"热-化学能"转换中存在中间能量形式.本文从热力学碳泵概念出发,对吸收式碳捕集理想系统进行了解耦,其可视为"热机-碳泵"的热力学组合,探索了极限效率的表达,并采用第二定律效率作为评价参数对已有中试试验系统进行了性能水平探索.结果表明,理想循环性能系数仅取决...     

多孔介质(PM)发动机理想循环热力学分析

本文论述了基于多孔介质燃烧技术的超绝热发动机的原理及其工作过程,建立了PM发动机的热力学模型,对 PM发动机内的PM回热循环进行热力学分析,列出了循环参数如压缩比、预胀比、预压比等对发动机效率、循环功的影响,确定了PM回热循环的两种极限状态。将PM回热循环与发动机的Otto循环、Diesel循环进行比较,结果表明: PM回热循环在保证效率的同时,可以大幅度提高循环功。     

基于微燃机的HAT循环变工况性能分析

基于某微燃机构建了HAT循环,研究了其在功率下降(ISO条件)、环境温度变化时的变工况性能,并与简单循环、回热循环和RWI(注水回热)循环的设计工况、变工况性能进行了对比。结果表明, HNI、循环和RWI循环的变工况性能相似且好于简单循环和回热循环。其中,空气湿化程度的调整对于HAT循环变工况性能的稳定性起重要作用。但由于没有设置中冷器,且微燃机循环中可资利用的(火用)较少,HAT循环设计工况和变工况性能相对于其它循环的优势没有得到充分体现。     

Conjugation of Palbociclib with MHI-148 Has an Increased Cytotoxic Effect for Breast Cancer Cells and an Altered Mechanism of Action

The CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, combined with endocrine therapy, has been shown to be effective in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer. However, palbociclib is not as effective in the highly aggressive, triple-negative breast cancer that lacks sensitivity to chemotherapy or endocrine therapy. We hypothesized that conjugation of the near-infrared dye MHI-148 with palbociclib can produce a potential theranostic in triple-negative, as well as estrogen receptor-positive, breast cancer cells. In our study, the conjugate was found to have enhanced activity in all mammalian cell lines tested in vitro. However, the conjugate was cytotoxic and did not induce G1 cell cycle arrest in breast cancer cells, suggesting its mechanism of action differs from the parent compound palbociclib. The study highlights the importance of investigating the mechanism of conjugates of near-infrared dyes to therapeutic compounds, as conjugation can potentially result in a change of mechanism or target, with an enhanced cytotoxic effect in this case.